3D path-following of underactuated Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

In this paper, we use PID motion controllers to control underactuated Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) to follow three-dimensional paths. Based on the path-following errors expressed in the Serret-Frenet coordinate frame, we study how to design the 3D path-following guidance functions, including an enhanced guidance function, which is based on single-input fuzzy logic controller in analytical form. We implement the proposed guidance functions on a six degree-of-freedom non-linear dynamic model of an underactuated AUV and present the simulation results on 3D path-following performance.